When we first left off, Jason and his crew planned on raiding a dungeon named The Lost Temple of Geoise; however, that got sidelined when a young Darwinian wolf-child was running from her captors. So now, they’re facing off against a group of demonic cultists hellbent on resurrecting their lord and unleashing chaos and destruction upon the world.

What happened next? Let’s find out, shall we?

The worshippers of Uruzel unsheathe their weapons; they possessed a cruel and somewhat disturbing design to them. It’s almost as if the intent is to cause a lot of pain and suffering as much as possible.

“Let us have a destructive, yet glorious battle!” proclaimed a cultist.

“And to make things more interesting, let me cast a spell that benefits all of us.” a female age offered.

She raised her left hand into the air; a crimson energy resembling smoke materialized around it. Then in a near instance, a circle-shaped force-field of the same color surrounded both Jason’s crew and the group of cultists; the barrier itself stretches out in a 30-feet radius.

“Hey, hey, what the fuck are you doing?!” Antonio interrogated.

“Well, I’ll explain this Super-Technique in brief detail.” the caster said.

The cultist mage explained in a concise manner that the spell she casted is a force-field that doesn’t allow opponents to flee; until the caster dies or everyone else gets killed, the barrier shall remain in place. The spell’s name is called The Pit of Inescapable War; with absolutely no other options, the fight inevitably began. The battle was split up into three sections.

First, it was Antonio and Emanuel versus a cultist who possessed a rather herculean frame and dual wielded two battle-axes. He charged at the former racketeering duo, jumped, and performed an overhead slash and after that, a vertical slash; it wasn’t successful as they managed to dodge both attacks in quick succession. The cultist then attempted to unleash a flurry of swings, however, this action was interrupted when several deep wounds suddenly appeared on his leg, knees, thighs, and shoulders in rapid succession.

All of those counterattacks were provided by Emmanuel, who stood before his enemy, holding his steel cutlass and being in a stance full of grace, elegance, and determination.

The berserker was stunned as a result, forcing him to stumble back. If that wasn’t enough, the blade of a war-axe (which are axes that are heavier but stronger) violently collides with the cultist's gut, causing him to reel in even more pain; the war-axe was then ripped out, leaving behind a horrible, bloodied gash on his stomach. At this point, the cultist was already in an incredibly disadvantaged state to put it lightly; he vomited a lot of blood and along with the terrible injuries he sustained, it’s safe to say that he was on the verge of death.

Then came the final blow. Antonio, with great force, aimed for the cultist’s head and performed an overhead slash; the attack connected. The berserker falls over onto the ground, dead and defeated with Tony’s weapon still lodged deep in his cranium.

At the other side of the conflict, Lilly was facing off against an enemy mage paired up with an assassin. The female mage in particular casted a summoning spell; a red portal appeared before her. Coming out of the portal are two lesser demons carrying spears, eager to shed blood. The imps attempted to impale the cat-girl with their weapons, but to no avail and due to her near-exceptional mobility; they couldn’t land a hit even if they tried really hard.

Lilly responded by cutting the two nefarious creatures down in a blink of an eye, with obviously the help of her trusty chokuto. Feeling that there’s a better plan, the assassin telepathically relayed a message to his partner, which was a strategy he quickly came up with. The language used was incredibly mysterious and esoteric; it’s almost as if it was lost for several thousands of years and was only known and spoken by those that were part of secret, underground societies.

Moving on, the cultist assassin walks off in a random direction and the mage prepares to cast another spell; this time, Offense Type Super-Techniques would be the way to go.

Seeing this strategy and not wanting to be one-upped, the ninja cat-girl decided to become invisible as well. The mage activates the Super-Technique: Detect Presence; on her end, even though she can’t see the physical forms of both her ally and enemy, the witch can still sense their life-force, giving her a solid idea on where they are. However, when she casted the Super-Technique, she felt a weird distortion in her mind; it was like she was put under a hypnosis spell. In her view, something was off, but the archdemon worshiper didn’t let it get to her too much.

Lilly reappeared again. Spotting her immediately, the mage telepathically communicates back to her colleague that she got the enemy on sight and is prepared to attack; all she could hear from her ally is a highly distorted pronunciation of words, almost resembling static and with no other options, the cultist went ahead with her plan. The cultist witch casted a Level 4 Mana Darts at the kunoichi and the Super-Technique connected; she was immediately killed as a result and fell in defeat.

The cultist was ecstatic at her victory, but for some reason, she couldn’t find her partner anywhere. Suddenly, the weird distortion she felt in her head from earlier was back; this time, it quickly transformed into a severe throbbing pain as if her skull was being pummeled by a mallet.

Immediately afterwards, she went blind for a split-second before regaining her vision again. Right then and there, the cultist realized a terrible truth: it turned out the corpse laying before her wasn’t the enemy she thought she killed, instead it was her ally. The mage reacted aghast at what she had done, but before she could do anything else, the cultist was impaled by the steel blade of a curved sword through the chest and upchucked a large amount of blood as a result.

“You thought you got me, huh?” said a familiar voice belonging to a certain Darwinian, “Well think again.” she mocked.

Lilly pulled out her chokuto from the cultist’s chest in quick succession. She then slashed the demon worshiper’s neck wide open, as a surefire way to confirm death; obviously, the mage laid decreased. On the back of the corpse of the cat-girl’s adversary, a rectangular tag made of paper bore symbols that resembled the Japanese language. Truly, this feat of skill and the items utilized are a testament to the fact that well-trained and well-skilled Assassins symbolize deception.

Now we shift to Jason’s side of the conflict. He’s fending off an enemy Knight and an individual whose class specializes in unarmed combat: they’re called Brawlers. So far into this side of the battle, the cultist knight and brawler have been using the strategy of double-teaming against our hero. The two of them continuously attacked Jace with their fists and swords, along with using various stances, styles, and techniques; despite all efforts, just trying to graze Knight McGuire is extremely difficult, let alone trying to land any hits. Jason just simply dodged and blocked their attacks like they were nothing.

In all honesty, the knight essentially saw the whole battle as just one big detour and a boring chore, like washing the dishes or mowing the lawn. Using that Double Attribute crystal really did wonders to him, along with the training he conducted with his new recruits last night and all his weapons and armor being upgraded to steel. Desiring to close the gap and end it all, Jason returned the favor by slashing at the cultists several times with his sword; his attacks connected and the demon worshipers were inflicted with numerous bloody gashes. The cultist knight and brawler succumbed to their injuries and collapsed onto the ground.

The Pit of Inescapable War that was surrounding our hero and his allies grew faint, before disappearing all together. All that remained was the corpses of those that put their lives on the line for a creature and a faction that saw them as nothing but resources and a means to an end; truly tragic. Moving on, with all the opponents being seemingly dead, that would make one assume that victory on the side of Jace’s crew is more than likely.

However, this part of the fight was merely the prelude. The real fight was just beginning.

Lilly (and Jason to a moderate extent), felt something that was very off. Normally when a creature dies, their aura disappears with them. In this case however, the aura of the cultists didn’t fade away, in fact, their presence and concentration increased more and more.

“Everyone, don’t let your guard down,” the cat-girl cautioned, “My senses tell me that we’re in for something much bigger than we expect.” she said.

The dead bodies of the cultists disintegrated into an otherworldly black and red energy. They rise up into the air and begin melding with each other, slowly forming into a creature of some sort; soon enough, the process was complete. What appeared before Jace and his crew was a bi-pedal demonic creature that stood over thirteen feet tall and had dark-green skin; its head resembled that of a goat, but with four horns and had sharp teeth and fangs. Then, rising through the earth was the handle of a sword befitting the creature’s size; a Zweihander to be specific. The creature pulled out the weapon, becoming its wielder in the process.

Finally, its eyes glowed a deep vermilion color and unleashed a monstrous roar that echoed throughout the land. Barely fazed by this, Jason and his team simply got into their combat stances, ready for the second part of this fight.

Antonio cracked his neck in bold defiance, “Please, that guy me and Manny fought was a pushover; I was just getting warmed up.” he remarked.

The demon charged expeditiously at the group; it prepared to swing its weapon in a downwards motion at them.

“Everyone, get out the way!” Ordered Jason with great urgency.

The knight and his comrades narrowly dodged the attack. The monster’s sword collided with the ground, causing a large shock-wave; it left behind a medium sized crater. The infernal creature then violently impaled its weapon into the solid terrain and in a moment’s notice, a circle inscribed with mystical runes materialized around it. Rising from the earth were a mob of hellish looking ghouls with charred skin; as they made audible moans and groans, they exhaled a black mist from their mouths.

The mob of ghouls bolted for the group, eager to tear their flesh apart. In a lightning-quick action, Jason casted at the small army of undead the most devastating Super-Technique in his arsenal thus far: Tornado Blade. Unsurprisingly, they were quickly neutralized by the spell as they were indiscriminately torn into shreds. With the mob gone, the team was ready to fight off against the nefarious creature. But out of seemingly nowhere, several beams of solidified light darted through the air and pierced the monster’s body.

Lilly and Jason heard the flapping of wings in the distance. In a fit of rage, the demonic creature was about to make an overhead slash at the crew and seeing this, they were about to make an evasive move once again. However, there was an unintentional change of plan that was out of Jace’s control; a yellow and opaque dome-shaped force field materialized around the four. The monster’s weapon collided with the barrier; not only did it completely fended off the attack, it also reflected it back to the one inflicting it. A giant gash appeared on the creature’s shoulder, making it roar in agony.

“What’s going on?” Lilly questioned in a bewildered tone.

If the horrible wound wasn’t enough, the infernal fiend’s arm was engulfed in a blue colored flame. It was unable to hold its weapon anymore and soon dropped it, giving off a loud clang as it collided with the ground; it stumbled back, as it could barely take the damage it was sustaining. Then suddenly, a giant x-shaped slash made of light appeared on its chest and the creature shrieked in pain. At this point, it was already nearing death.

Finally, it was subjected to its killing blow. A vertical slash made of light was inflicted on the monster and it traveled from head to groin, effectively splitting it half. The monster that was cleaved In half by a mysterious force stood still in place; it then disintegrated into ash and was whisked away by the wind, never to be seen again.

“Damn, what in Creador’s name decided to swoop in and help us?” Emmanuel wondered.

“Us.” spoke a being, with a solemn sounding voice.

Lilly once again sensed the presence of supernatural aura. This time however, it’s something positive, like it possessed the traits of holiness, sublimity, ethereality, and honor. The beings that saved the crew are under an invisibility spell; they dispelled it and became physically visible again. They revealed themselves as a group of angel warriors and mages. They radiate an otherworldly beauty; the clothing, equipment, and weapons they have are both regal and practical, and the presence they hold is virtually indescribable.

“Good day.” a female angel warmly greeted.

“Is it safe to come out yet?” the voice of a young wolf-girl spoke out.

“Totally, you’ll be just fine.” Jason affirmed, thus the Darwinian came out to join him.

“Anyways, I’m just wondering, what are you all doing here in this part of the continent?” Jace queried.

“Well, to answer that, we’ve heard and even received pleas by others that sects of Uruzelian cultists are up to something rather nefarious,” stated an angel warrior, “So we’ve tasked ourselves of hunting them down.” he revealed.

“We fear that this sect is planning to sacrifice innocent villagers, whether it be humans or darwinians, to not only create an object integral in resurrecting an Archdemon, but also to summon a Pit Lord to wreak havoc throughout the land.” a female angel spoke.

“Wait, what are Pit Lords?” the knight asked.

“To put in simple terms, these creatures are the strongest among the Major Demons,” a heavenly spellcaster explained, “If you thought the Major Demon you fought was something else, it wouldn’t hold a candle to what a Pit Lord is capable of.” he remarked.

“Yeah, honestly, that thing gave us a run for our money in some ways.” admitted Lilly.

Antonio rubbed his blonde beard after hearing all of this. It made him really think about the things he and Emmanuel were involving themselves in.

“Man, this some heavy shit right here,” commented Tony, “Look, we’re not really the super-heroic types, but we’re willing to help as much as we can.” he chimed in.

“I want to be in this too,” joined Manny, “Even though we can technically say ‘no’ and walk away from this, it could actually be really bad for us. Yeah, things may be fine for a very short while, but sooner or later, we’ll be completely boned by either demons or those that worship them.” he justified.

One of the angels somewhat reeled in disgust at their selfish reasons, but had to concede that heroism is still heroism.

“Alright then, where are these villagers being held captive?” Jason asked.

“The Lost Temple of Geoise; it’s a place that has been abandoned for several thousands of years.” Jovius, the leader revealed.

“Then there’s no time to waste, we must head there as soon as possible.” Jace affirmed.

“Wait, I wanna go with you guys!” the Darwinian child pleaded.

“Sorry, but this is way too dangerous for you,” disallowed Emmanuel, “Look at you, you’re just a simple child with no experience when it comes to fighting; it’s best if you just run and hide.” he earnestly recommended.

“I may not look like it, but I’ve been under tutelage from a Master Wizard since I was three,” the wolf-girl stated, “Not only is my family in danger; but my teacher too. I want to save them, whatever it takes!” she bravely exclaimed.

Jovius smiled at her bravery, “Don’t worry my child, I know the perfect thing for you.” he said.

The leader pointed his finger at the child; she was quickly engulfed in a ray of light. The light soon disappeared and leaving in its wake, the young girl was decked out in clothing, items, and equipment befitting a beginner-level witch. They then continued on their way to the dungeon, with their cart in tow.

“Hey miss, what’s your name?” The wolf-girl asked Lilly, while they rode in the cart together.

“My name’s Lilly; right over there is Jason, Antonio, and Emmanuel,” the ninja cat-girl revealed, pointing to her allies, “What’s yours?”

“Anya. I’m almost nine by the way.” the wolf-child informed.

The melded group continued on their quest to raid the dungeon and rescue the innocent.